Thurmond B. West Collection (Ms. 2)
Papers and photographs from the West family home in Columbus, including dozens
of photographs made by Oscar Zumwalt in Columbus between 1900 and 1920, most of
which were sold as postcards in his pharmacy.

Lois Stafford Burt Collection (Ms. 4)
Miscellaneous family and other material, with an especially noteworthy
collection of photographs that includes twenty photographs of notable sites in
and around Columbus made in 1886.

Small Donations (Ms. 5)
Material collected by library staff or donated in small lots by other people
is catalogued as part of the Small Donations collection, and is indexed by
subject.

Draper/McCormick Papers (Ms. 6)
Papers of George Millan McCormick, who served in the Confederate army and was
afterward an attorney, Colorado County clerk, state attorney general, and
district judge, and of his granddaughter, Myrah Jane McCormick Draper. The
collection includes letters written by McCormick when he was a soldier in Waul's
Texas Legion as well as papers and pamphlets he accumulated during his later
legal career.

Dittmar/Hinkel Papers (Ms. 8)
Documents regarding the Engel family from Reconstruction and before and
school contracts, lists, and other papers involving the Content, Bluff, and
Bernardo Schools, the Content Post Office, the Content-New Bielau Mutual Support
Society, and the Weimar-Content Road from the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries.

Simon Henry Koenig Papers (Ms. 10)
Papers relating to railroad activity in Glidden from 1920 through 1927,
retrieved from the Koenig home in Alleyton and donated to the library by Henry
Potter in 1992.

Weimar Mercury Collection (Ms. 13)
Photographs of people, places, and events in and around Weimar taken by the
staff of the Weimar Mercury, most of which were taken in the 1950s.

James H. Wooten Collection (Ms. 14)
Letters and other materials accumulated by James Harbert Wooten, Jr. and his
father relating to World War I, the Columbus Home Guard, and the Boy Scouts in
Columbus, plus a series of deeds detailing the transactions by which William Harbert built his plantation
in the 1850s, and estate papers and other documents of William Harbert, Daniel
Webster Harcourt, and family members, dating from the 1850s to the early
twentieth century.

Mary Breit Collection (Ms. 16)
Bulletins and other publications and correspondence generated by St. Anthony's
Catholic Church of Columbus in the 1970s and 1980s.

Columbus Study Club Papers (Ms. 17)
Minutes, yearbooks, and other papers of the Columbus Study Club, which existed
from 1922 until 1976, and which played a key role in the establishment of a
library in Columbus.

Columbus Rotary Club Papers (Ms. 18)
Newsletters, correspondence, and other documents of the Columbus Rotary Club.,
most of which is concerned with club activities in the 1950s and 1960s.

Nada Photograph Collection (Ms. 22)
Photographs of people, places, and events in and around Nada, most of which
center around the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church.

Arthur L. Schuette Papers (Ms. 24)
Papers of Arthur L. Schuette, a rural school teacher who wrote a thesis on Cat
Spring and translated the minutes of the Cat Spring Agricultural Society for
publication.

Mary Cullinan Cravens Papers (Ms. 28)
Correspondence, articles, and news clippings regarding the proposed construction
of a dam north of Columbus by the Lower Colorado River Authority, beginning in
the 1950s.

Columbus Garden Club Papers (Ms. 29)
Scrapbooks containing yearbooks, programs, photographs, and newspaper
clippings, kept by the Columbus Garden Club, which was established in 1936.

Richard Waldron Byars Papers (Ms. 31)
Photocopies of diaries kept by Richard Waldron Byars and of family Bible records
and inserts, together with a transcription of a reminiscence written by Byars.
The diaries and reminiscences deal with the cattle business around Colorado
County, and various other subjects, including hog raising, rice growing, the
sheriff's office, and early oil speculation near Beaumont.

Tait Family Papers (Ms. 32)
Xerographic copies of letters and other documents written by and/or involving
Charles William Tait, his plantation, and his slaves, dating from 1848.

Joseph Jefferson Mansfield
Papers (Ms. 34)
Personal and professional papers of Joseph Jefferson Mansfield (1861-1947), who
served as county judge of Colorado County (1896-1916) and United States
Congressman (1916-1947). In the House of Representatives, he served on the
Merchant Marine Committee and the Rivers and Harbors Committee, chairing the
latter for many years. Mansfield Dam on the Colorado River was named for him.
The papers also contain a few items collected by his descendants. The collection
was
donated to the library by his granddaughters.

Everett Family Papers (Ms. 35)
Papers of Henry Clay Everett, including gravel contracts and other papers, and
affidavits regarding land ownership and family history.

Colorado County Chronicles Papers (Ms. 36)
Text, galleys, corrections, administrative documents, and other papers relating
to the writing and publication of the two-volume history of Colorado County
published by the Colorado County Historical Commission in 1986 under the title
Colorado County Chronicles.

Leyendecker Family Papers (Ms. 37)
Xerographic copies of letters, documents, and printed material, most dealing
with the life and career of Johann Friedrich Leyendecker, and dating from the
1850s.

Thomas T. Waddell Papers (Ms. 39)
Correspondence, diaries and other material of Thomas Tompkinson Waddell, who
served Colorado County as game warden for most of the twentieth century.

Ben H. Neal Family Papers (Ms. 40)
Documents, including deeds, letters, funeral notices, and wedding invitations,
all relating to the family of Benjamin Harris Neal, a Frelsburg physician, and
including some family photographs.

Barry A. Crouch Collection (Ms. 41)
Documents relating to the activities of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and
Abandoned Lands (commonly known as the Freedman's Bureau) in Colorado County and
the surrounding area from 1865-1869.

Farmers Gin Company Papers (Ms. 42)
The bylaws, minutes, and other records of the Farmers Gin Company of Columbus,
Texas, which was organized on March 24, 1924 and chartered on May 21, 1924.

Abstracts of Colorado County (Ms. 43)
A survey of the rural lands of Colorado County made by the Works Progress
Administration in 1936, giving data regarding ownership, agricultural
production, and structures, complete with various maps.

Leon F. Dick Papers (Ms. 48)
Seven registers and account books maintained by Leon F. Dick between 1902 and
1931 detailing the care of minor children Harry, Alma, and Walter Dick, the
construction and maintenance of his home, and his daily activities; and
maintained by his heirs between 1931 and 1934 detailing the business of his
estate.

First United Methodist Church of Columbus Records (Ms. 51)
Xerographic copies of the records of the First United Methodist Church in
Columbus, including baptisms, marriages, burials, membership rolls, and
quarterly conference reports, plus church histories, directories, and other
material.

Bianchi Letters (Ms. 52)
Transcriptions of letters written by two French travelers, Fridolin Bianchi and
Emile Bianchi, from Colorado County to their family in France in 1870 and 1871.

New Beef Club Records (Ms. 55)
Xerographic copies of the records of the New Beef Club, a meat club which was
organized in 1923 and which existed until 1965.

Colorado County Economic Development Organization
Papers (Ms. 56)
Records of the Colorado County Economic Development Organization from
1988 through 2000, including county tax assessments, budgets, employee
information, incorporation information, by-laws, county demographics, economic
updates, income and expense reports, and correspondence.

Dusek Collection (Ms. 62)
A collection of letters, photographs, and clippings and business and legal
documents pertaining primarily to the Alley, Auerbach, and Schott families, and including a 1935 dental appointment book.

Prause/Uhlig Papers (Ms. 63)
Nineteenth-century music book owned by Arnold Prause, and twentieth-century
documents from the Uhlig family household.

John O'Leary Papers (Ms. 64)
Material relating to the Columbus High School baseball program from 1968 through
1985, and to other athletic programs, donated by John O’Leary, former high
school baseball coach, in June 2002.

Mid Town Park Papers (Ms. 65)
Minutes, notes, and other documents relating to the planning and construction of
Mid Town Park in Columbus, which opened in 2002.

James T. Pettus Diary (Ms. 68)
The diary kept by James T. Pettus, sergeant in Company F, 8th Texas Cavalry (Terry’s Texas Rangers),
Confederate States Army, while on campaign from February 12, 1862 until June 27, 1862.

David C. Neer Letters (Ms. 69)
Letters written by David C. Neer to relatives in Hillsborough (now Hillsboro),
Loudoun County, Virginia, dating from his arrival at Prairie Point (later
Oakland) in 1857 until 1861.

Reconstruction Documents, Miscellaneous (Ms. 70)
Documents collected by various persons and from various sources which relate to
the Reconstruction period (1865-1876) in Colorado County. The collection
includes several letters relating to the Crisp family, including some written
from Brazil.

Klein Family Papers (Ms. 71)
Correspondence and printed matter, most of which deals with clubs in and around
Columbus during the 1930s, including notable material dealing with a local
chapter of the National Council of Jewish Woman and the Columbus Parent-Teacher
Association.

Caldwell Family Papers (Ms. 73)
Printed material, much of which deals with local black schools, from the 1920s
through the 1960s. The material was retrieved from the home of Mattie Leona (Toliver)
Caldwell (1911-1993) and donated to the library by Virgil Thompson in 2005.

Mary Grant Papers (Ms. 75)
Documents related to Weimar and to the history of the Grant family collected and
created by Mary Edith Grant (1913-2002), who during her life was a school
teacher and active member of the First United Methodist Church in Weimar. The
collection was donated to the library by her estate in 2003.

William T. Eldridge Trial
Transcriptions (Ms. 76)
Transcriptions of the testimony at the two murder trials of William Thomas
Eldridge, the first in 1904 for the murder of William Dunovant and the second in
1907 for the murder of William Edward Calhoun. The transcriptions were donated
to the library by Robert M. Armstrong.

Henicke Family Collection (Ms. 77)
Material collected by Oscar and Josephine (Miculka) Henicke, including some
school material from Columbus, Weimar, and Shaws Bend, and considerable material
dealing with St. Paul Lutheran Church in Columbus.

First United Methodist Church,
Weimar, Records (Ms. 78)
Copies of the records of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of Osage, and of
the First United Methodist Church in Weimar, including baptisms, marriages,
deaths, lists of pastors, and lists of members. The books were loaned to the
library for copying in October 2006. The earliest record book of the Osage
church was missing.

Christ Episcopal Church, Eagle
Lake, Records (Ms. 79)
Copies of the records of the Christ Episcopal Church in Eagle Lake, including
baptisms, marriages, burials, confirmations, lists of pastors, and lists of
members. The books were loaned to the library for copying in December 2006. The
earliest record book was missing.

John S. Shropshire Papers (Ms. 80)
Letters written by John S. Shropshire while serving as an officer in the
Confederate States Army on campaign in New Mexico in 1861 and 1862.

Northrup School Scrapbooks (Ms. 81)Two scrapbooks
assembled by Sunbeam Northrup to document her school years in Columbus. The
material is mostly from 1934 and 1935, though some earlier material is included.

Columbus Golf Association Records (Ms. 82)The minutes of the Columbus Golf Association from 1949 through 1972. The
records detail the management of the Columbus golf course by the members of the
golf association. The records were donated to the library on September 4, 2007
by Todd Barten.

Booker Memorial Temple, Columbus, Papers (Ms. 84)
Programs for the annual memorial service for Gusta Booker and other material
related to Booker Memorial Temple in Columbus and its founding pastor, Carl
Evans, and containing some material related to Gusta Booker Jr., donated to the
library by Carl Evans on April 16, 2008.

Lillie Reese Papers (Ms. 85)
Material recovered from the former home of Lillie Reese, including the scrapbook
which was the basis for the book Flaming Feuds of Colorado County. The
Reese home was inherited by Mildred Campbell, who lived in it until the mid
2000s. Her son, Bruce Austin, cleaned up the house in 2007, and donated material
collected by Reese to the library on July 31, 2007.